Eu: euphemism,
euphony, euphoria,
eulogy.
The “eu” root means good. A euphemism is a nice way of
saying something mean. For example, “portly” and “bigboned” are euphemisms for fat. If you are at someone’s
house, and the food tastes like a dead rat, you might use the
euphemism “unique” to describe the food.
“Phon” means sound. A euphony is a pleasant sound.
Euphoria is a feeling of ecstasy. “Fred felt euphoric after
winning the lottery.”
Phon: symphony,
euphony, cacophony.
Olfactory & gustatory
Trepid, trepidation,
intrepid
Equivocate
Magnanimous
Eulogy = eu +logos (words) = a speech of praise, usually
made at a funeral. “The eulogy was full of praise.”
Phon = sound. A symphony (sym = same or together)
involves many sounds working together. “The orchestra
performed the symphony.” A euphony is a pleasant sound.
“The flute players produced a euphony.” A cacophony is an
unpleasant sound. “The fingernails on the blackboard
produced an unpleasant cacophony.”
Other phon words: phonics is reading based on sounds. A
telephone carries sound over a distance.
Olfactory means having to do with the sense of smell.
Gustatory means having to do with the sense of taste. “The
taste of the food offended Fred’s gustatory senses, and its
stench offended his olfactory senses.”
Trepid comes from the Latin word that means anxious and
fearful. Trepid means timid. “The trepid boy was too shy to
talk to anyone.”
Trepidation is fear. Intrepid means not having fear. “The
intrepid explorers felt no trepidation.” “The coward was full
of trepidation.”
Equi (equal) + voc (voice, speak). To equivocate is to speak
equally on both sides of something, and avoid making a clear
statement. “When asked about his opinion, the politician
equivocated, refusing to clearly pick a side.”
Magna (big or great) + animus (soul). Great-souled, selfless,
generous. “Martin Luther King and Gandhi were both
magnanimous.”
Other words that have the anim- root:
Animal (an animal has more of a soul than a plant)
Animate (if an image is animated, it is given a soul)
Other words with magna:
Magnify = magna (big) + fy (make). Magnify means to make
something bigger.
Magniloquent = magni (big) + loq (speak). Magniloquent
means speaking in a large, extravagant way.
Circum: circumvent,
circumspect,
circumambulate,
circumnavigate,
circumscribe,
circumlocution
Circum means around. Circumvent means to go around, or to
avoid. “Fred circumvented the city to avoid the traffic.” Or
“Fred circumvented the rules and did whatever he wanted.”
Spect means to look or see. Circumspect means cautious,
because a cautious person looks around before doing
something. “The circumspect person checked all the rules
before doing anything.”
Ambulate means to walk. Circumambulate means to walk
around something. “We circumambulated the building.”
Navigate means to sail. Circumnavigate means to sail around
something. “Magellan circumnavigated the earth.”
Scribe means to write. Circumscribe means to limit, which is
like drawing a boundary around something. For example,
“The new law circumscribes personal freedoms.”
“loc” and “loq” mean to speak. Circumlocution is talking
around the subject. “Instead of getting to the point, the
politician resorted to circumlocution.”
Evanescent, ephemeral,
transient, fugacious
Lasting for a short period of time. Evanescent has the same
“van” root as “vanish.” “The memory of the dream was
evanescent.”
“A mayfly, which lives for a day, has an ephemeral life.”
Trans=across. Something transient goes across quickly;
basically it lasts for a short period of time. “The fad was
transient; it only lasted for a day.”
Transient can be used as a noun, to describe a person who
stays somewhere for only a short time. “The homeless shelter
was full of transients.”
Fugacious has the same root as fugitive. A fugitive escapes
from a place quickly. Similarly, something fugacious
disappears quickly. “The fugacious fad lasted for only a day.”
Prosaic
Prose is writing that is not poetry. Essays, novels, and
textbooks are all written in prose. Prose is more ordinary than
poetry. Thus, prosaic means boring or excessively ordinary.
“The accountant lead a prosaic life; it was boring and
ordinary.”